Line-throwing gun



May 14, 1968 K. E. MYERS LINE-THROWlNG GUN Filed Oct. 19, 1965 INVENTOR KLINGMAN EDWARD MYERS ATTORNEY 5'.

United States Patent O 3,382,859 LINE-THROWING GUN Klingman Edward Myers, '7216 Poplar St., Annandale, Va. 22003 Filed Oct. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 497,624 Claims. (Cl. 124-11) This invention relates to line-throwing guns and particularly to guns for thro-wing guide lines.

There are many fields wherein the necessity arises for laying guide lines along a particular path, including the electrical industry, utility construction and rigging of lines in the general construction eld. Of particular interest is the electrical construction field where guide lines are to be placed between particular points or7 along a particular path, the guide line subsequently being attached to a cable or the like for drawing the cable along such path. In recent years the technique or propelling a line package through a conduit Iby means of gas pressure has come into considerable use in the electrical industry. Such method and apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,006,607, issued-Oct. 31, 1961. The use of such method and apparatus has effected considerable savings of time and labor in Stringing guide lines through conduit but there are many applications where guide lines must be passed where no conduit is involved, particularly where a guide line is to be placed in crawl spaces, along joists lbetween the floor and ceiling, above false ceilings, in heating or cooling ducts and the like. In many instances such spaces, while not confined in the sense of a conduit, are inaccessible to usual -methods of laying cable.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a line-throwing gun which propels a line along an unconfined path.

A further object is to provide a line-:throwing gun which is of simple and economical construction, simple and economical to utilize and which may be employed in conjunction with exis-ting apparatus for propelling line through conduit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a linethrowing gun which is adaptable for a wi-de range of uses including the electrical industry, construction industry and other fields.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.

In the drawing,

FIG. l is a schematic view showing the line-throwing gun in accordance with the invention in use in placing a line in an unconfined but inaccessible space.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary View, partly in cross-section, of the gun of the invention and showing the loading of the line Ypackage therein.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the gun after it has been loaded with the line package and taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. l but before firing.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view, partly in cross-section, showing an attachment in place on the forward end of fthe gun barrel for firing a line around a corner into an otherwise inaccessible space.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the gun comprises an elongated tubular barrel 11 which is provided with a hand grip 12 adjacent the forward end thereofyA breech opening 13 is provi-ded near the rear end of the barrel for receiving a line package 14. The line package 14 is conveniently of the type shown in U.S. Patent 3,006,607 and comprises a casing or wrapping 15 of material such as plastic or paper, the casing 1S being of elongated cylindrical shape. The pliable line 16 is wound in a cylindrical roll and is preferably wound in such fashion so that the line 16 unwinds from its center outwardly.

A tubular breech cover 17 is slidably positioned on the barrel 11 and is conveniently made of heat-shrunk plas- 3,382,859 Patented May 14, 1968 tic to seal the breech opening 13 when the gun is loaded for Ifiring. An annular stop ring 18 is secured to the Ibarrel 11 to limit 'the travel of the breech cover 17 in proper breech sealing position. As shown in FIG. 2, the free end of the line 16 is positioned outside the breech opening 13, the package 14 inserted therein and the cover 17 thereafter moved in the direction of the arrow to seal the breech opening. The cover 17 additionally serves to clamp the end of the line 16 between it and the barrel 11 and/or the stop ring 18, thus securing the line en-d for retrieval after firing.

The rear end of the barrel 11 is provided with a male portion 19 of quick disconnect coupling for mating with a female portion 20 connected to a source of compressed uid. Such quick disconnect couplings are welll known in the art and are available for high pressure applications. The female end 20 is secured to a pipe 21 pivotally attached to and communicating with a compressed gas source 22, preferably a cylinder of carbon dioxide. The pivotal connection between the pipe 21 and the cylinder 22 permits proper aiming of the gun regardless of the position of :the cylinder. The compressed gas cylinder 22 is provided with a valve and valve operating means 23 and a handle 24 asv is known in the art.

In use, the gun, having been loaded with the line package as previously described, is positioned along the desired trajectory by grasping the cylinder handle 24 with one hand and the hand grip 12 with the other hand. The valve is opened by squeezing the valve operating handle 23 to admit a short burst of compressed gas to the gun, thereby firing the line package therefrom along a path determined by Ithe position of the gun. The duration of the application of gas pressure is short, on fthe order of a fraction of a second, and need be no longer than is required for the line package to traverse the distance from the breech portion to the end of the barrel. Guns constructed in accordance with the invention have thrown lines in excess of two hundred feet.

By way of example, the barrel 11 may be constructed of half-inch internal diameter bore heavy wall steel pipe with an overall length of about 3 feet. The line package utilizable with such a gun has a diameter of :three-eighths inch.

For some applications, the space into which the line is to be propelled may be inaccessible to posi.ion the gun as shown in FIG. l. The attachment shown in FIG. 4 facilitates the use of the gun in such situations. The attachment consists of a right-angled lbarrel extension 25 for attachment to the barrel 11 as by a tightening screw 26. The `barrel extension 25 should have the same bore as :that of the barrel 11. In use, the line package has a trajectory determined by -the direction of the end leg of the extension 25. In using s-uch right-angle extension, it is preferred to utilize a flexible line package as is described in U.S. Patent 3,006,607 to permit it to travel along the right-angle path. For use in aiming ythe extension in the proper direction where direct sighting is irnpossible, a mirror (not shown) may be attached to the extension at the angular portion thereof at 45 to the respective legs. A further sight means (not shown) may be employed on the gun barrel 11 to assist in proper alignment of the gun. In a further modification, a lig-ht source, such as a flashlight (not shown) may be attached to the gun barrel 11 aligned therewith for enabling the aiming of the gun in darkened spaces. Such light source may -be employed either with the right-angle extension 25 and associated mirror or without it.

Thus, there has been ldescribed a line-throwing gun which propels a line over long distances along a predetermined vtrajectory in either open or inaccessible spaces. While the invention has been described and illustrated in terms of certain preferred embodiments, they are to be considered illustrative rather than limiting, and it is intended to cover all further modifications and embodiments which fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a line-throwing gun comprising an elongated tubular barrel having a forward discharge end and a rear end and having a breech opening adjacent the rear end thereof, a cylindrical line package having a diameter less than the internal diameter of the barrel, said breech adapted to receive said cylindrical line package, an annular tubular lbreech cover having a length greater than the longitudinal length of said fbreech opening slidably mounted on said barrel, said breech cover in operative position adapted to cover said breech opening and seal the same and to clamp an end of the line from said line package between said cover and said barrel to restrain it against movement, and means carried by and communicating with said rear fend of the barrel for attachment to a compressed Huid source.

2. The gun set forth in claim 1 including hand grip means carried by said barrel adjacent 'the forward end thereof.

3. The gun set forth in claim 1 including stop means secured ito said lbarrel adjacent said breech opening lto limit the travel of said breech cover.

4. The gun set forth in claim 1 including a right-angled barrel extension detachably mounted on the forward end of said barrel.

5. The gun set forth in claim 1 including a tank of compressed fluid having valve means, a conduit pivotally connected to the outlet of said valve means and communicating therewith, and means carried by the end of said conduit for detachably connecting said conduit end to said attachment means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,182,369 12/1939 Barron 124-11 2,930,584 3/1960 Hensley 124-11 2,955,586 10/1960 Hamrick 124-11 3,006,607 1'0/1961 Hamrick 254-134.4 3,056,395 10/1962 Merz 124-11 RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A LINE-THROWING GUN COMPRISING AN ELONGATED TUBULAR BARREL HAVING A FORWARD DISCHARGE END AND A REAR END AND HAVING A BREECH OPENING ADJACENT THE REAR END THEREOF, A CYLINDRICAL LINE PACKAGE HAVING A DIAMETER LESS THAN THE INTERNAL DIAMETER OF THE BARREL, SAID BREECH ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID CYLINDRICAL LINE PACKAGE, AN ANNULAR TUBULAR BREECH COVER HAVING A LENGTH GREATER THAN THE LONGITUDINAL LENGTH OF SAID BREECH OPENING SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID BARREL, SAID BREECH COVER IN OPERATIVE POSITION ADAPTED TO COVER SAID BREECH OPENING AND SEAL THE SAME AND TO CLAMP AN END OF THE LINE FROM SAID LINE PACKAGE BETWEEN SAID COVER AND SAID BARREL TO RESTRAIN IT AGAINST MOVEMENT, AND MEANS CARRIED BY AND COMMUNICATING WITH SAID REAR END OF THE BARREL FOR ATTACHMENT TO A COMPRESSED FLUID SOURCE. 